Ken Hopfensperger of Wisconsin Rapids takes a break from picking strawberries to take a bite of one on Wednesday, June 20, 2018, at The School at Altenburg's Farm in Grand Rapids. Tori Schneider/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

The first group of pickers gets started in the strawberry field around 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday, June 20, 2018, at The School at Altenburg's Farm in Grand Rapids. Tori Schneider/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Ken Hopfensperger, left, and Bob Rosicky, both of Wisconsin Rapids, are some of the first strawberry pickers to hit the field on Wednesday, June 20, 2018, at The School at Altenburg's Farm in Grand Rapids. Tori Schneider/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

The first group of pickers gets started in the strawberry field around 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday, June 20, 2018, at The School at Altenburg's Farm in Grand Rapids. Tori Schneider/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

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WISCONSIN RAPIDS – After 55 years of family fun, the sun has set on Altenburg’s Farm.

The farm that hosted strawberry picking and fall activities every year closed at the end of its 2019 strawberry season July 9, 2019.

“It was our 55th and last season, as we won’t be offering pumpkins and fall activities,” according to the farm’s website. “Thank you for your friendship and support over the years!”

The farm's sign along State 54 thanks customers for 55 years.

Harold Altenburg, 86, bought 40 acres of land just outside of Wisconsin Rapids in 1964 and spent the past 55 years running the farm and hosting events. Altenburg’s invited customers into its strawberry fields each spring to pick their own berries. The farm also hosted fall festivals with corn mazes, pumpkin patches and more. In the winter, Altenburg would offer sleigh rides at the farm to help to raise money for the local United Way. Altenburg also encouraged students to visit the farm and learn more about agriculture, often through school field trips.

In an interview in January 2017, he told a USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin reporter his favorite thing about running the farm was all the children who would run up to him to give him hugs. Some would draw him pictures to show their appreciation of the farm, he said.

In 2017, Altenburg began planning for his retirement. He worked with Incourage to form an advisory committee to turn the farm into a farm school that would work with teenagers between the ages of 14 and 19 years old. The School at Altenburg’s Farm became its own nonprofit organization in 2017.

The farm school is continuing, although it will be under a new name. The Central Wisconsin School of Agriculture is still operating in multiple sites in the community until it finds a new home, said Gus Mancuso, a board member for the nonprofit organization. Mancuso said the school is excited to continue educating youths about agriculture in central Wisconsin.